This invention relates to a piece item separator and counter for separating a batch of cloth piece items into a plurality of separate lanes to allow effective counting and summing of the total number of piece items in the batch.
In the linen supply industry, which rents and cleans piece items such as shop towels, diapers, napkins, massage towels, etc., a need has existed for a system for rapidly separating and counting the soiled piece items which are returned in bulk. In prior techniques, the piece items have been separated by hand and placed on a conveyor for counting one at a time, by an electric eye. This separating and counting process is slow, and hence has disadvantages when used in large establishments which handle large quantities of piece items.